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Willis Lane petition prompts surveyor report to probe B Lane tile reconstruction
Summary
The Watershed Board directed staff to ask a surveyor to prepare a report and bid package to investigate reconstruction of B Lane tile No. 699 in the Willis Lane watershed after a petition representing about 1,500 of the watershed’s 2,700 acres — roughly 56% — was submitted, Watershed staff said.
The Watershed Board directed staff to ask a surveyor to prepare a report and bid package to investigate reconstruction of B Lane tile No. 699 in the Willis Lane watershed, after a petition covering a little over 1,500 of the watershed’s 2,700 acres — about 56% — was submitted, Watershed staff said.
The recommendation follows a petition from citizen Jerry Cheney asking to rebuild a portion of the tile. Watershed staff said the board performs major repairs annually and that one of the tile holes had caused a combine to fall in a previous year, evidence the section “definitely does need to be reconstructed,” staff said.
Watershed staff described the petition’s coverage and requested the board authorize “the surveyor move forward with putting a package together to look into … reconstructing.” Board members moved and seconded the request; the motion carried, 3-0.
Staff also said Cheney offered to install, at his own expense, a receiving riser and a short tile to drain a routinely wet spot shown at the lower corner of the project map that periodically closes a county road after heavy rain. “There is a wet spot down at the bottom corner of that map which routinely closes … that county road,” Watershed staff said, and “Mister Cheney is proposing to run a tile up there at his own expense to drain that wet spot.”
Board members discussed whether the watershed could absorb the cost or whether previously used financing mechanisms would be needed. When asked if the watershed could accommodate the expense, a board member said staff would likely need to use the watershed’s financing mechanisms; Watershed staff confirmed, “We’ll have to use our financing mechanisms.”
Watershed staff noted the signatures on the petition exceed the threshold required to initiate the process, and praised the petitioner’s outreach. “Very impressed with Mister Cheney’s ability to go out and get those signatures. He did a great job,” staff said.
Next steps outlined by staff are a surveyor’s report, gathering information for bids and costs, and completing the statutory processes and hearings required before construction. Staff and board members emphasized that authorizing the surveyor to prepare a package is a preliminary step and does not itself authorize construction or expenditures.
Board action: motion to have the surveyor prepare a reconstruction package — moved, seconded, motion carried 3-0.
